ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors is a leading manufacturer of steel technical doors, fire doors, and aluminum and steel profile joinery. As part of the ASSA ABLOY Group, a global leader in building security, the company focuses on delivering reliable, high-quality products that meet the highest safety standards.

ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors is part of the global ASSA ABLOY Group, which operates several sites in Poland, each specializing in a different type of product. In total, the group has three manufacturing plants and three additional office locations in Poland. The largest factory, located in Dobrzeń Wielki, produces over 4,000 steel doors and steel and aluminum profile doors, including fire doors, per month. Another plant near Poznań manufactures gates, smoke curtains, and fire system closures. The third facility near Warsaw produces specialized and low-volume anti-burglary products. The other three offices include a service center in Tychy, a sales, implementation, and R&D department in Gdańsk, and a commercial and implementation office in Warsaw.

This case study focuses on the implementation of a quality management system – auditomat®. Led by Marcin Lewandowski, Quality Director at ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors, the implementation aimed to streamline audit processes and improve operational efficiency.

“The biggest advantage of auditomat® is that auditors can perform audits immediately on-site using a phone – nonconformities and related data are automatically recorded. This eliminates the need to create action plans, send photos, and generate additional Excel files for oversight. It’s a huge time saver and complete digitalization.” – Marcin Lewandowski, Quality Director, ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors

Challenges and Motivations for Change

Before implementing auditomat®, ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors faced several challenges in their audit processes:

• Manual and fragmented processes: Audits were conducted using paper forms and Excel spreadsheets. Attempts were made to use Microsoft Teams activity logs.
• Lack of centralization: This manual approach resulted in fragmented data, making it difficult to manage action plans and track corrective actions across locations and systems.
• Low efficiency and waste (Muda): The process was time-consuming. Auditors had to take photos with phones, send them, and manually create descriptions and action plans, leading to wasted time and resources.
• Limited accountability and transparency: Without a centralized system, tracking action status and enforcing accountability was difficult. Lack of transparency hindered effective quality management.

Marcin Lewandowski recognized these issues from his experience in previous organizations and advocated for a centralized, digital solution. His primary goal was to eliminate “muda,” i.e., waste, from the audit process.

“To eliminate muda – all kinds of waste… With so many processes to audit, multiple locations, types of certifications, and requirements, I cannot imagine having action plans scattered across different places, formats, and approaches to problem-solving, as this leads to ineffective oversight and repeated errors. With Auditomat, everything is in one place and system.” – Marcin Lewandowski, Quality Director, ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors

auditomat® Solution

Marcin successfully convinced management to adopt auditomat® to centralize and automate audit procedures. The system was initially implemented for 5S and OHS (Occupational Health & Safety) audits at the main operational site, with plans for further expansion.

The long-term vision is to use auditomat® for all audits related to the company’s three ISO certifications (9001, 14001, and 45001). The scope will gradually expand to other locations, such as sales offices, service centers, R&D departments in Gdańsk and Warsaw, and audits on construction sites.

Key Benefits of Using auditomat®

The implementation of auditomat® brought significant benefits to ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors:

• Centralization and digitalization: All audit data, nonconformities, and action plans are now in one unified system, simplifying reporting and providing easy access to accurate information.
• Increased awareness: The system provides real-time visibility of each area’s status, increasing process owners’ awareness of their responsibilities and workplace conditions.
• Time and resource savings: Audits and documentation of nonconformities can now be performed directly from a mobile device, saving significant time. Auditors no longer need to manually send photos and data from multiple sources.
• Improved audit quality: The system enhances both internal and external audit quality. Marcin observed that having all data in one place with clear statuses impressed certification bodies, leading over time to a significant reduction in nonconformities.
• User convenience: 20 internal auditors at ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors praised the system for its ease of use and efficiency. Mobile functionality and user-friendliness allow them to perform duties more effectively without unnecessary administrative burden.

“auditomat® was extremely helpful in my previous organization – after three years of use, an external auditor congratulated us on the results. From several nonconformities per year, where we identified causes and effectively implemented corrective actions, we achieved the effect of only one nonconformity, for which we were recognized as a best-practice example in the industry.” – Marcin Lewandowski, Quality Director, ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors

Future Plans

ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors plans to gradually expand the use of auditomat® to other areas, including ISO-related audits and non-operational departments such as sales, R&D, and service. The company also intends to use QR codes on physical standards to further streamline the audit process on the production floor.

Marcin Lewandowski, drawing on his proven success with auditomat® in his previous organization, wholeheartedly recommends the solution. He believes its ability to centralize data, digitalize processes, and eliminate waste is key to improving quality and efficiency.

“This is the second company where I am implementing auditomat®, and I can fully recommend it. The system centralizes data, eliminates waste, and significantly simplifies audit management.” – Marcin Lewandowski, Quality Director, ASSA ABLOY Mercor Doors